Cambodia, China to boost cooperation on cybercrime fight

Cambodia and China pledged to enhance shared efforts on crackdown operations for online gambling and scams in response to the rising concerns surrounding cybercrime in the region.The commitment to strengthen the ties resulted from a discussion meeting between Minister of Interior Sar Sokha and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin on Wednesday at the ministry’s headquarters.

Ambassador Wang wrote on his official Facebook page yesterday, expressing his pleasure to be working with Sokha, while also reaffirming the commitment to boosting collaboration to combat online gambling and scamming.

“Both sides agreed to strengthen anti-online gambling and scamming collaboration,” he wrote.

Touch Sokhak, the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, said that the meeting reflects the strong willingness of both sides in getting rid of the illicit online gambling.

“The trend of online gambling is spreading in most countries globally; therefore, we hosted the meeting to join the efforts,” he said.

Sokhak said that Cambodia and China have always had good cooperation, particularly in the exchange of information such as related evidence, and effective crackdown measures, resulting in perpetrators facing legal procedures and victims being rescued.

“During many of the operations, China sent their police force to work jointly with Cambodian police, supporting the crackdown, as well as facilitating the perpetrators’ return to their home country and vice versa,” he said. “Both parties also share support on the human capability building, such as investigative training for officials, and also the materials assistance.”

He acknowledged the positive outcomes yielded from the shared efforts of Cambodia and China, reflected in the declines in the number of cases taking place in the Kingdom.

He also emphasised the commitment to continuing to cooperate with China.

“Most of the cases in which we received information from China, our police immediately went to the location and started crackdown operations,” he said. “Also, the Chinese police managed to rescue a lot of Cambodian victims and repatriated them home safely.”

Sokhak stressed that the crackdowns must be done jointly by every country, due to the rapid growth of technology.

“For Cambodia, we are stepping forward to adapt to the new technology,” he said. “We are still victims of technology developments, as the perpetrators use these advancements to continue to commit crimes in our country. Every country needs to help each other; the more developed ones need to support the weaker ones rather than take advantage by putting political pressure on countries.”

Last August, during a meeting with Ambassador Wang, aiming to enhance bilateral cooperation between the Ministry of Security of China and the Interior Ministry, Sokha expressed hope that the Chinese side will continue to provide assistance to the security sector and to offer practical training programmes for Cambodia.

In Southeast Asia, online gambling, in the form of live casino games, online gambling machines, and sports betting, has risen as a lucrative sector, drawing foreign investors and capital across the region. According to reports, the sector is mainly driven by Chinese gamblers, and the operators, by locating their businesses in other countries, are avoiding China’s strict prohibition on gambling.